Has anyone ever took the front parking lights out and polished the surface like people have done with the taillights? I want to try this, along with putting brighter orange bulbs in the front. The stock housings are hazy, and I'm trying to make the clearer, but still orange.

 

Buy new ones! Thats my useless $.02

 

Your right! Your 2 cents was useless. I brought 2 already if I was to use your advice I'd waste a lot of money. So maybe polishing them instead of buying new ones everytime they haze is worth the effort.

 

This topic has been brought up quite a few times. i took the front turn signals apart on my '92 turn signals and polished them inside and out. The front of the turn signals is heat melded tot he back piece and you have to be careful taking apart, so they'll go back together

 

What a tool!

 

huh??

 

No, not you bradkeith, sorry! I meant dsaint. He should retract his statement. Just b/c he had bad experiences, two of them, with buying new parking lamps does not mean that he is right! Absolutely not. I bought mine over 2 1/2 years ago and have had no trouble with them. I remember the first time they clouded up and i was like, WTF, well once they dried out, in like less than 24hrs i might add, they were as good as new. They still look new to this day and they rarely cloud up or get moisture in them. Its wierd, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Thats just me though. I am sure there are tons of people who have bought them and have had similar experiences and i am sure there are others who have had bad experiences, like dsaint. Well my friend, i don't have a gun to anyone's head so it just sounds like that you wasted your own money and who ever goes out and buys them from my advice/opinion, wastes their own money, not me! Its totally up to them, not my decision. To me, i would rather get brand new ones and do that mod to them to get rid of the moisture then to rip the 15yr old ones apart and polish them. Thats just me though, i am sure others feel different but i wanted them new to go with my new paint. After time, a lot of different car's parts go bad and age, there is nothing you can do about it, its life. So i would just rather take my chances on a new part then get frustrated over an old one that is not going to look the same as it should, IMO. Show me pictures of factory, polished ones and i should be able to change my view. And its just that, a view. Sorry for venting but i am tired of opinions being torn apart just b/c one person has had a bad time. Not my fault i have not had bad experiences with them yet. Later

 

86iroc, i can agree with you on some statements. I polished a set for the 89 that i was selling at the time. No reason i saw to put $60 worth of clean lights in a $2000 car, when i could polish them good enough to look nice.


I did however buy lots of new parts for my 86 clone. I was very upset when my brand new parking lights clouded and fogged within the first 2 weeks. They dried out fine, but after that little "scare" I took them apart and put RTV silicone over all the holes. It seems like how they sit in the front cover they collect water through the bottom drain holes!

 

I'm not going to spend the $60 (!) on a new set, so I think I'm going to try to polish the outside lens. Hopefully the inside of the outer lens isn't hazed, that way I wont have to take it apart and polish both sides. I was under the impression that some part of the housing was tinted orange, but after taking them apart, I found that to be untrue. So, the plan right now is to polish the outside lens, and then paint the inside lens, the bumpy part, with the same translucent paint that others have used to paint their reverse lights, without taking any of the housing apart. Then, I'll attempt to seal the housings so no water will get in it. Then i'll try to find brighter bulbs to put in place of the stockers because I like bright parking lights, like on the new Firebirds with the round lights in the bumper. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it will be different from anyone else around here.

 

Bought me a brand new set too....really glad I did....can't beat a new lense!

 

An old pic, but what the heck.

 

Found a more recent one, but the engine was running and my parking lamp DRL's (daytime running lamps) were on, so it's hard to see what my custom lamps look like. The pic above shows them quite nicely though.

Willie

 

Willie, those lights in the first pic look awesome. Hopefully mine will turn out as good after some polishing, painting, and brighter bulbs. What are the numbers for the bulbs? And do they have to be dual filament, or can they be wired to be on high and then blink on and off whenever the blinker is on?

 

Willie, those lights in the first pic look awesome. Hopefully mine will turn out as good after some polishing, painting, and brighter bulbs. What are the numbers for the bulbs? And do they have to be dual filament, or can they be wired to be on high and then blink on and off whenever the blinker is on?

 

The lamp assemblies in both the above pics are the same units, only with the high filament on in the second. I've had them now for over three years and they still look good.


Willie, those lights in the first pic look awesome.

Thanks. After three years, I'm still pleased with them. For more information, please see:

http://members.optushome.com.au/iroc...ie/lights.html

I no longer make them as the website says though.


Hopefully mine will turn out as good after some polishing, painting, and brighter bulbs.

I hope so too. Good luck. If you haven't clicked on the link above, I'll state here that mine have been modified by removing the original lens and diffuser located immediately behind. I then replace the lens with a piece of plexiglas. That's why you can see clear through to the bulb, unlike an original piece.


What are the numbers for the bulbs?

They are the original replacement bulbs. I believe the number is 2357 (orange).


And do they have to be dual filament, or can they be wired to be on high and then blink on and off whenever the blinker is on?

Well, they have to be dual filament. The lower wattage filament is used when the parking/headlamps are on (required by law). The higher wattage filament is for the turn signals and in my case, DRL's (identical to the '97 - '02 fourth gens).

Willie

 

Thanks guys, you've all been really helpful. Well after a night of reading all the posts relating to parking lights, I think I'm still going to stick to the original plan I posted above, with a few minor variations. Paint the diffusers orange with translucent paint, wet sand the outside lenses with 1500 or 2000 grit paper, use Mothers or Meguiars plastic polish to buff it out. Then try to find dual filament bulbs in either orange or white, whichever ones I can find that are brighter. I'm betting finding bright white ones will be easier than finding bright orange ones. I dont think I want to do the DRL conversion, but I do like the look of bright parking lights. I read a post by MacEwen that there is a 15/50W replacement bulb out there somewhere, which sounds like the brightest I've found so far.